Creating your own advent calendar is a fun way to get into the holiday spirit and countdown to Christmas 2024. As you may know, advent calendars traditionally have little doors that you open each day in December leading up to Christmas day. But with a DIY advent calendar, you can customize it however you want!
In this guide, as a professional custom advent calendar printing manufacturer, I’ll walk you through exactly how to make an awesome homemade advent calendar, just like I do for my kids each year.
Why Make Your Own Advent Calendar?
Here are a few reasons why making a custom advent calendar is totally worth it:
- It’s budget-friendly. Store-bought calendars can get expensive. But with some creativity, you can make one for less than $20.
- Personalize it. Tailor your calendar to your family’s interests with small toys, candy, notes, or anything that will excite your kids.
- Family activity. Get the kids involved in decorating and assembling. It’s great holiday bonding time!
- Make holiday memories. Opening the calendar daily becomes a much-anticipated holiday tradition.
- Teach about Christmas. Add bible verses relating to the Christmas story for a faith-based focus leading up to the holiday.
5 Elements of an Awesome DIY Calendar
Over the years of making homemade advent calendars, I’ve figured out 5 key elements to nail so your calendar is epic.
1. Vessels
You need containers to hold whatever surprises or treats you’ll be putting inside your calendar. Here are some vessel ideas:
- Mini boxes
- Small muslin bags
- Tiny envelopes
- Matchboxes
- Mini buckets
- Paper bags
Make sure you have 25 containers – one for each day leading up to Christmas. The Dollar Store is a great place to find affordable options.
2. Embellishments
Now here’s the really fun part – decking out your vessels! Things like:
- Washi tape
- Ribbons
- Glitter
- Stickers
- Paint
- Paper
Go simple or go all-out. Embellishing is a great task for getting the kids involved too.
3. Contents
Once your vessels are all jazzed up, it’s time to fill them. Here are some ideas:
- Candy/chocolate
- Small toys
- Stickers
- Gift cards
- Ornaments
- Notes with holiday memories or future activities to do together
- Bible verses relating to the Christmas story
Fill each vessel with the same item or switch it up! Just be wary of adding anything too heavy if vessels will hang.
4. Numbers
To build the anticipation, vessels need to be opened in order. Number them 1 through 25. This can be done by:
- Number stickers
- Handwritten on with marker
- Paper numbers glued on
- Printable numbers like the free set I have for you below!
5. Display
The final step is setting up an Advent calendar display so all the numbered vessels can easily be accessed each day. Ideas include:
- Mantle
- Bookshelf
- Wall
- Window
- Christmas tree
- Wreaths
- Garlands
- Shadowboxes
If the vessels are bags or boxes, a fun idea is to clip them to a garland or clothesline with mini clothespins. Get creative with your presentation!
Advent Calendar Examples & Inspiration
To spark your creativity, here are some of my favorite DIY advent calendar designs:
Chalkboard Tree
Use a chalkboard cutout tree and write the numbers in chalk or use number stickers. Super minimal yet functional.
Christmas Village
Make a village out of mini decorated boxes resting on faux snow. Fill the boxes with goodies! So charming.
Kindness Calendar
Instead of material items, fill your vessels with kindness prompts like “Make a holiday card for a neighbor” or “Shovel someone’s driveway”.
Shadowbox Calendar
Use a shadowbox frame to create the look of drawers, customized with scrapbook paper. Add a handle for interactive play.
How to Make an Advent Calendar at Home
Ready to get started on your own stunning Advent calendar? Grab your supplies and let’s do this!
For this project, we’ll use:
- Mini boxes (or vessels of choice)
- Washi tape
- Baker’s twine
- Printable scripture verses
- Free printable numbers
- Hot glue gun
- Scissors
Follow these steps:
Step 1: Decorate Vessels
Take your mini boxes, envelopes or whatever vessels you’ve chosen and decorate them using washi tape, stickers, ribbon or whatever embellishments you’d like.
Get the whole family in on the fun! Or throw on a holiday movie while you tape away.
Step 2: Add Contents
Once your vessels are looking spiffed up, carefully add in the small items or surprises you want your recipients to discover each day. Candy, legos, bible verses…get creative!
Step 3: Attach Numbers
To identify which vessel to open on each day, attach numbers 1 through 25. If you’d like to use the same numbers as I did, snag my printable numbers by clicking below.
Using hot glue (or tape if vessels are fabric), adhere the numbers onto each vessel in order.
Step 4: Display Your Calendar
Lastly, grab a box, bin, frame or other vessel to neatly contain or display your decorated vessels in order of the days.
Set out number 1 where it’s easily accessible and watch the excitement build!
More Ideas for Your Own Advent Calendar
Beyond the basic box advent calendar, here are more ideas to spark your creativity:
- Photo Advent Calendar: Use tiny clothespins to clip up different family photos each day. Makes a sentimental Christmas keepsake!
- Lego Calendar: Behind each numbered flap or box, include a Lego figurine, small set or activity prompt focused around Legos.
- Beauty Advent Calendar: Pamper your teens with mini nail polishes, lip glosses, hair ties and more beauty goodies.
- Ornament Calendar: Unpack a special Christmas ornament every day leading up to decorating the tree.
- Gelt Advent Calendar: For Hanukkah celebrations, include chocolate gelt coins behind little flaps or in numbered boxes.
The options are endless when it comes to DIY advent calendars! I hope these tips and inspiration empowers you to get creative with making holiday memories with your own customized countdown to Christmas 2024.
Happy crafting!